by Tong Keshinn special thanks to Smitha
How did you guys come up with this production?
Aaron: Actually it started when we went for a field trip in Serdang. It was a very nice place… with very big ants. So we all got our scripts out and started going over them. And that was when I found David Ives’s All in the Timing collection and it really got my attention.
Mark: The plays are witty and funny. It’s something a common Malaysian would be able to understand.
Aaron: The plays are only 10 minutes each, but in the end, we could not get it out of our minds, so we went to our director, Erica, with the scripts. She went through all of them, picked two out of it and added one of her own in—and she just went ‘Okay, why don’t we do these three plays as a triple bill?’ So, that’s basically how we got started.
So, what are your expectations from the audience?
Mark: Well, it’s sort of a wittingly funny play. So we don’t really expect everyone to understand it at first. It’s comedy and it’s quite absurd at the same time. Of course, we expect them to enjoy the show. Hopefully all of it.
Aaron: No expectations.
How different is All in the Timing compared to the rest of the previous DP+M graduate projects?
Aaron: It does have its drawbacks. Like the script Sure Thing, it’s actually a very famous play which had been done a couple of times in Malaysia like in Penang. And we are trying something funny—not the usual tear-jerker or something like that. It’s a nice change.
Mark: Yeah. It’s less depressing. We need to see what we have and make the best out of it—and it have something that does take to our Malaysian identity.
Ok, so why did you guys chose this three plays in particular?
Mark: Actually the director made the final choice so we have to leave it to our director to answer that ………here she comes right now.
Erica: [puts away things while gasping for breath] We like them. If we’re doing a play, we have to choose something that we are passionate about. The three plays are about social rituals, like the way we say ‘hello’, so it’s something that we can all relate to.
Erica, the director that's managing this barrel of monkeys
Batsheba: The 3 plays have a common factor. Like they happen in similar location. They have the same settings but at different time –like one table and two chairs. So, they’re really not that different.
So, how did you guys decide on the roles?
Mark: We actually took turns for each character. Like I’ll play A and he’ll play B, then he’ll play A and I’ll play B –and then we’ll see who’s better suited for the role. The director actually decides this.
Erica: It’ll be an easier choice to choose people who are suited for the role and allow them to play that. But my objective for this play is to help my friends to grow as actors. And so by giving them a role which they’re not comfortable with, it’ll make them more versatile. Because if you’re an actor and you’re versatile, people will give you whatever role they have in mind and this will open up a lot of opportunities. But I’m working with a bunch of talented people so I know they’ll be able to do it.
This is quite touching. Any tears?
Aaron: I know she’s not talking about me.
Why is the play purported to be “funner” then a barrel of monkeys? Who came up with this slogan?
Batsheba: Me! Me! Me! Ok, I came across that phrase in the internet and I thought ‘yea, this is fun.’ I mean “funner than a barrel of monkeys” speaks for itself. I mean it’s really funny and it’s a really fun play. It’s damn witty and it’s like an unconventional way of writing it—it’s so unconventionally structured. That’s why I put in that.
Aaron: I thought you just took it from manglish.
Batsheba: NO! It’s from the internet–
Aaron: But ‘funner’?
Batsheba: Oh, funner, of course-lah. It’s the Malaysian way of saying it.
Aaron: That’s why I thought that.
Batsheba: Americans says ‘funner’. It’s a bit more casual. All in the Timing is witty and the ‘barrel of monkeys’ suits it—it’s witty. It’s a nice way to tell the truth.
So, mind sharing any behind-the-scenes moments with us?
Aaron: We’ve had the most creative mess ups of our entire lives. It’s been quite fun.
Mark: We pronounce things wrongly or miss out a line completely and somebody says something that is twenty lines ahead, and then the other person continues in a very awkward way—the stories still gel but it sounds totally different.
Erica: It changes every time we do it. It’s never the same. Somebody will either mess up their lines or miss it out completely. So we’ll always get something different but it’s hilarious.
Mark: But if we messed up our lines, the audience will laugh and they’ll find it more entertaining. The more you see dysfunction, the more you will be entertained.
Batsheba: Hopefully, people can see through the humor.
Who do you look to for inspiration? A role model perhaps?
[ALL]: MELISSA! [their lecturer]
Aaron: Yea. She’s like our mommy. MOMMY!!!!!
Melissa: Did you just call me mommy? I’m glad they’re getting out of here.
Mark: She’s just saying that but she doesn’t mean it.
Melissa, their 'mommy' cum lecturer
Since most of you will be going your separate ways, are there any chances that you guys will reunite to put on another play?
Aaron: Actually most of us will be going to University of Tasmania. Bryant will be there too. But when I come back, I want to buy over Curious Theater Company from Melissa.
Melissa: I’m still waiting for you to buy it from me.
How much will you be selling it for?
Melissa: Ten times more than the price I bought it for.
Curious Theater Company?
Aaron: Yeah. Melissa has a theater company known as the Furious Theater Company. Brave…Bold….Furious. So I came up with Curious Theater Company. Cowardly…Indifferent…Curious. But Melissa bought that name before me. But anyway, I don’t want to lose contact.
Mark: He’s just saying that because he’s high on sugar. Coke or friend?
Aaron: COKE!
